An Interview with a Zither Virtuoso.

Evening Star, Issue 7875, 6 April 1889, Page 1 (Supplement)

An Interview with a Zither Virtuoso.

[' Pall Mall Gazette.']

One curious little sign of how small the world is growing in these days is the fact that the music of the Tyrolese mountains can now every day be heard re-echoing from the purple hills which rise up (unfortunately on canvas only) behind the quaint Japanese Village, at Kensington. The selections on the zither, which form part of the programme of the daily concerts, are the most attractive feature of these entertainments, the more so as the performances are given by the masterly player Herr Gruber, whose name is well known in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy as the master player par excellence on the instrument, which is far too little known to be fully appreciated in this country. A representative of the * Pall Mall Gazette' obtained the following information from Herr Gruber after one of his performances:— " What induced you to come to England, Herr Gruber, seeing that your instrument is so little known and appreciated in this country'?"—"l have come to, and hope to stay in, England because my past experience with the English parts ef my audiences has shown me that the English can and will appreciate the zither if once they become really acquainted with the music, and because my experience of English pupils, of which I have had not a few, convinced me that the English are musical enough to learn to play the zither, and what they perhaps lack in a fine musical sense is made up for by their perseverance, which is quite unparalleled." " And does zither music repay the trouble of learning to play the instrument, and all the blistering of the finger tips which accompanies the first endeavors of the youthful student ?"—" Repay ? Indeed it does ; it more than repays, for you can put more c xpression into the zither than into the violin, and it is quite a mistake to suppose that only songs and dance music are suitable to it. I have set many a piece of classical music for the zither, and I have played them in public times without number, and they have always been enthusiastically received; indeed, there is not a musical instrument which equals the zither in that respect, and the best of it is that it takes, not nearly as long to learn it as it takes to learn the piano or the violin. Any ordinary pupil is able to play little tunes in about six weeks; and as to the blistering of fingers to which you refer, that can be easily avoided, and it is chiefly the fault of the teacher if the pupil has to suffer in this way. A beginner should never practise more than half an hour a day before his fingers get used to the touch of the strings, which they very soon do." " But is not the music of necessity rather poor from such a small instrument, and with no other tool to make up for the violin bow than the tiny thumb-ring ?"—JNot in the least. One zither gives out quite a volume of rich sound, and makes enough of the sweetest and pleasantest music to nil a large room or hall; but the effect is increased if you have two or more instruments, or if the zither accompanies the piano or the violin or another instrument. I have given zither concerts on forty or fifty zithers with great success, and anything more attractive in music it is hard to imagine. But to the human voice the zither is the best accompaniment. For such it was originally designed, and as such it is still held high by all the country folks in the Tyrolese Alps. They have their rough Raffel zither in every cottage ; it has only two or three strings, and whenever they want some music it comes down from its nail behind the stove, and is played and sung to till the very hills resound with the music. Nobody teaches them ; as the same instrument goes down from father to son, so the art of playing it seems to be hereditary, or if ever there is any teaching it is done gratuitously,' One Bauer, in fact, teaches the other Bauer and one and all get to know it in some way or other. I have sometimes introduced the original Raffel zither into my concerts, and it is very effective, particularly with the Be who have heard it played in its home."

"And tell me, Herr Gruber, is the appreciation of zither music spreading on the Continent, or is it still confined to the Tyrol and Bavaria ?"--" I have found appreciative and enthusiastic audiences wherever I have played, as you will see by the newspaper cuttings in my serapbook, but in Germany it has recently been taken op more than in any other country, and I am sure that before long the zither will be played everywhere where there is any love for music."